The Newbury Yacht Club is celebrating 50 years since its inception.

The club was formed in 1969 when, on March 4, a group of 25 met in the Tudor Café to bring like-minded sailors together socially in the formation of 'Yacht and Boat Club in Newbury'.

Initially there were sections for offshore cruising, riverboat cruising and dinghy sailing.

Today the club has more than 120 members, with the majority interest in offshore cruising and members’ yachts moored in and around the Solent and some further afield in the Mediterranean.

Summer sees rallies of two to seven days and, in winter, monthly meetings with speakers talking on nautical themes held at the Royal British Legion.

The club will celebrate with a ball at Newbury Racecourse on May 11.

The February meeting was chaired by newly appointed Vice Commodore Leslie Lowenthal, who introduced Tony Higgott, a local archivist who was the curator of the then Newbury Museum and writer of several books about Newbury.

Tony’s talk focused on the recent history of Newbury and the changes taken place in era of Newbury Yacht Club.

Tony’s photos showed a traffic jam in Northbrook Street in 1948, the A34 bridge over the Kennett in 1966, the many incarnations of the bus station and some of the buildings that were demolished in the seventies.

More details of Newbury Yacht Club can be found at www.newburyyachtclub.com.